Just a nosh...

Several Israelis missing in New Zealand

Up to four Israelis who were in Christchurch, New Zealand at the time of the earthquake remain missing and are feared dead. The Foreign Ministry said up to 150 Israelis were in Christchurch at the time of the quake.

Israeli backpacker Ofer Mizrahi, 23, was among 75 people confirmed killed in the quake, which measured 6.3 on the Richter scale and devastated the city of Christchurch. The city’s Chabad center was destroyed in the quake.

Israel, which has hundreds of nationals trekking in New Zealand every year, offered to send food and medicine to help; the Magen David Adom is assessing the possibility of sending rescue personnel.

Palestinians from Libya allowed in Israel

Israel will allow 300 Palestinians from Libya to come to the West Bank. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “for humanitarian reasons” he had acceded to a request by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to allow the Palestinians to flee the unrest in the North African country for the West Bank. More than a dozen countries sent airplanes to Libya to evacuate their citizens. Hundreds have been reported dead in protests calling for an end to Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi’s 41-year reign.

Team suspended for non-Jewish ringers

A soccer team was suspended and may be expelled from a Jewish-only league in London after fielding non-Jewish players under false names. A referee in the Maccabi Southern Football League became suspicious when two players for the Holy Mount Zion team, who were registered under Jewishsounding names, were called by other names by their teammates, The Telegraph reported. The players’ true identities were discovered by looking up their Facebook profiles. Six more players on the team have been asked to prove they are Jewish.

Rahm Emanuel elected Chicago mayor

Former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel was elected the first Jewish mayor of Chicago. Emanuel garnered 55 percent of the vote in a fiveway race. Because Emanuel received more than 50 percent of the vote, he will become mayor without the need for a runoff election in April.

Emanuel, 51, resigned in October 2010 as President Obama’s chief of staff in order to run for mayor. He also worked in the Clinton White House and is a former congressman from Chicago’s North Side. A Hebrew speaker, Emanuel is the son of an Israeli doctor who moved to the United States in the 1950s. Anti-Semitism reared its head during the campaign, in remarks by fellow candidates and in flyers distributed on a train line that runs through the city.